How disturbing is this? How disturbing is it that ATF leadership denies there is a problem? Mr. Jones, Brandon and Turk are thumbing their noses at the dedicated employees of ATF as evidenced by their refusal to reign in out of control Chief counsels office as evidenced by Mr. Brandon completely ignoring the FAAP recommendations. Does this in fact VALIDATE those Congressional members who resisted Mr. Jones confirmation based upon allegations of reprisals and abuse? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Mr. Jones has been in charge either acting or confirmed for over 2 years. compare the 2010 stats and the steady increase. Sadly, these numbers were taken directly from the Official U.S. DOJ website TODAY..........................

 

Total number of employees        FBI 35,000+      

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012     312    Less than 1%

 

 

Total number of employees       DEA  10,000+

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      53      Less than 1%

 

 

 

 

Total number of employees       ATF    4770

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      1362  More than 25%

SERIOUSLY?????????

Where there is smoke there is fire America.

 

http://www.justice.g...eeos/nofear.htm

It seems so simple to generate questions and answers for these hearings. CALL IN CAREER FIELD AGENTS. They don't have agendas, they aren't inclined to play word games. Simple question. Mr. Jones, what has changed in recent years to create all of the failures when ATF has successfully conducted such operations for decades before your arrival without incident?

News flash, new policies aren't the fix. We have policies in place both written and implied regarding safe law enforcement operations. A 20+ year veteran recently stated, hell if we would have been allowed to act like this for the past 20 years, our job woulda been so much easier. STOP promoting MORONS, and STOP promoting or shifting incompetents, ie Zapor and Milanawski. Stop letting OR ENCOURAGING OPSRO to tamp down these egregious acts by MANAGERS SPECIFICALLY.

See if you can track this................

 

Employee notifies IA of a sexual harassment claim.

Internal Affairs investigates claim and determines it to be UNFOUNDED, (GO FIGURE).

 

The employee files EEOC. They make the play to terminate the employee. NOW GET THIS........

One of the counts was disrupting the work place by notifying Internal Affairs, and because they found the allegations to be unfounded, it disrupted the work place.

 

DOES THIS NOW MEAN????????That every time, a retaliatory manager sicks the Internal Affairs dogs on an employee and the allegations are unfounded, that SAID MANAGER will now face disciplinary action?

 

IT BETTER. WE ARE PAYING ATTENTION MR. JONES AND MR. BRANDON

 

 

Did Director Jones really just say UNDER OATH, that he is concerned about law enforcement sensitive information? Really? Does a Prime time showboating expose' on 20/20 suggest he really cares ANYTHING about operational security? YOU GAVE THE BADGUYS OUR PLAYBOOK.

Does anybody else find it disturbing that our DIRECTOR does not have enough regard for the U S Congress to attend a hearing focused on failures since he arrived. Mr. Brandon stated Mr. Jones knew nothing of a major store front until it blew up. WHAT was he reviewing? Guess you can't be cited for perjury or lack of candor if you don't appear. Accountability? Really? With all due respect to the Milwaukee Sentinel and the sub-committee, we don't do accountability in ATF. Not for bosses anyway. The smartest question asked was by Congressman Gowdy. He asked, why dont you bring in long time experienced agents to oversee such operations? The answer......................because we have run off most of our experience. Oh yeah, "the teens wanted the tattoos. Finally, stop suggesting that Mr. Jones moving of the deck chairs changed anything. Everybody who was in charge is still in charge, just somewhere else.

 

    Hearing called to address flawed stings exposed by Journal Sentinel investigation

Washington — After running nearly 40 undercover storefront stings in the last five years, the ATF's deputy director says no such operations are now underway and improvements in oversight have been made in the wake of botched operations nationwide.

Deputy Director Thomas E. Brandon testified Thursday before the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, and acknowledged significant deficiencies in undercover storefront stings. He said there was no justification for having the wrong people charged, as happened in Milwaukee, or the lack of outside cover teams to ensure armed felons didn't leave.

He called locating an undercover gun-buying operation in Portland, Ore., across the street from a middle school "a mistake" and said it "wasn't great judgment" for agents there to pay two teens to get tattoos depicting the fake storefront's logo of a giant squid smoking a joint.

He said the young men requested the tattoos and agents tried to talk them out of it — testimony that conflicts with the account of events described in court by the prosecuting attorney.

Brandon also told members of the subcommittee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), that undercover storefront stings remain a "valuable investigative technique" when managed properly. He said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently created a manual for how to properly run undercover storefronts — the first of its kind — and will be training agents on proper methods.

He said the ATF has conducted 37 undercover storefront operations since 2009. He called them "resource intensive" but did not disclose how much they cost. Most of the troubled stings took place before B. Todd Jones became head of the agency, he said.

Jones was appointed as acting director of the ATF in August 2011, while he worked simultaneously as U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. He was confirmed by the Senate as director of the ATF in July 2013.

Thursday's hearing was one of two planned on flawed storefront operations nationwide uncovered by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation.

In his opening remarks, Sensenbrenner called the Milwaukee sting an "abysmal failure."

"To say that the operation was extremely flawed would be a vast understatement," he said.

"This doesn't appear to be one operation gone bad but a systemic problem plaguing the ATF," he added. "After Operation Fast and Furious we were told numerous times that changes were coming to the ATF under the new leadership. I certainly hope this operation and others like it are not indicative of those changes because they aren't changes for the better, at all."

And, Sensenbrenner noted, the Milwaukee operation began several months after Jones became acting director of the agency.

He also criticized the ATF for not disclosing the troubles to members of Congress who oversee the agency.

"I'd like to know why I found out about this from my hometown newspaper," he said.

Brandon apologized and said he, too, learned of many of the problems from the Journal Sentinel stories.

The Journal Sentinel found the agency used mentally disabled people to promote operations and then arrested them on drug and gun charges; opened storefronts close to schools and churches, boosting their arrest numbers and penalties; and attracted juveniles with free video games and alcohol.

Agents paid inflated prices for guns, which led to people buying weapons at stores and selling them to undercover agents hours later, in some cases for nearly three times what they paid. In addition, agents allowed armed felons to leave their fake stores and openly bought stolen goods, spurring burglaries in surrounding neighborhoods.

Brandon told members of the subcommittee the agency has since developed methods to spot "trends" and track whether guns are coming from stores and has drafted policies on outside cover teams.

He said the ATF did not target people with mental disabilities.

U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wondered "whether these operations attracted more crime than they prevented," asking Brandon if he considered a ratio of one-in-six flawed operations to be "successful" — considering the Journal Sentinel found troubles in all of the half-dozen stings it deeply investigated. Goodlatte sought assurance from Brandon that there aren't others marred with similar foul-ups.

Brandon responded, "With the information I have right now, I would say that." He added the Department of Justice inspector general is looking at the issue.

U.S. Rep. Robert Scott (D-Va.) criticized the agency for its lack of oversight of undercover storefronts, calling the failures "embarrassing and at times dangerous to public safety." Scott aimed many of his questions at whether agency officials believe they have adequate gun laws.

Nobody on the subcommittee addressed the issue of accountability or if any agents involved in foul-ups had been punished.

The ATF is facing increasingly intense scrutiny for the operations from members of both parties in Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced last week he is investigating ATF storefront stings in four cities — Milwaukee; Wichita, Kan.; Pensacola, Fla.; and St Louis — to see if the operations put the public at risk. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) called for the investigation, calling the ATF tactics "totally inexcusable."

In Milwaukee, the operation's lead undercover agent had three of his guns, including a machine gun, stolen from his car. The machine gun remains missing. Milwaukee police disclosed this week that a second ATF gun, a 9mm handgun stolen from the agent's car, also has not been recovered.

The agency launched an internal investigation into the Milwaukee sting that confirmed the findings of the Journal Sentinel report. But in a briefing with congressional staffers, ATF officials "were adamant" that the problems in the Milwaukee case were isolated.

The Journal Sentinel later exposed similar problems in stings from Pensacola, Fla., to Portland, Ore.

Through a dozen federal Freedom of Information Act requests, the Journal Sentinel asked the agency for information such as how much the operations cost, how many stings have been run nationwide and what the rules are for agents keeping guns in cars.

In denying release of information about gun storage rules, the agency said releasing such information would make "every agent a potential armed robbery victim."

This week, the agency released reports on ATF guns that were lost or stolen in the past five years, revealing that agents' guns were left under car seats, in bathroom stalls, on an airplane and on the top of vehicles.

HOPEFULLY OVERSIGHT WILL GRILL MR. JONES ON WHY SO MANY ARE LEAVING THE AGENCY, FILING COMPLAINTS AND ALLEGATIONS, AS WELL AS THE LACK OF LEADERSHIP BEING DISPLAYED.

Undercover Storefront Operations: Continued Oversight of ATF’s Reckless Investigative Techniques

Failure to know rules & regulations is dereliction of duty. A marine would know this. Notwithstanding the ATF orders and other governing laws that can be read and referenced - they can be read, n.b. "can" be read but that doesn't mean that dopey and often vindictive managers will abide by them or even comprehend them. The agency has no one to blame but themselves for their slow demise. They let mcmahon "get away" with admittedly not reading opsec plans, case reports and e-mails before. As some cnn commentors on their web site, following this story, have said in substance - how did they get to be "top managers" without knowing the rules or what to do?
Answers abound but consulting fees should apply.

B. Todd Jones - you have a challenging couple of weeks ahead.

 

When the F&F reports came out your response that it didn't take place on your watch.  Then you failed to enact any true discipline on those deserving of it.

 

When the IAD report came to you on my issues your response was that it didn't take place on your watch.  You sat on the findings and failed to enact any true discipline on those deserving of it.

 

Now the sting/storefront issues are before you.  Whether true or not, this happened on your watch.  I am assuming you will be called to testify before Congress.

 

Will you take any responsibility?  Will you accept any accountability?  Will you stand up for your agency?  Or, will you throw field agents onto the train tracks?  Will you blame agents for whatever mistakes are detailed to save yourself?  Will you blame those managers beneath you to keep yourself clean?  Will it be the "I didn't know", "I don't recall", "I was not aware of that" cover story we've seen from your office a million times before?  Will you defend those agents who are out there running the mostly highly efficient undercover operations our agency has ever seen or allow them to be sacrificed as well?  Will you let a few mistakes crush the program?  Will you make promises to end our uc ops to make nice-nice and gut the bureau's best weapon against violent crime?  Will it be everybody's fault but your own?  Will you just dispatch one of the flunkies who drinks from your Kool-Aid jar and have them take the blows for you?  Will you even bother to consult with the best-of-the-best operators we have to help them give you a fighting chance to protect them, and yourself for that matter?  Will you just answer the way Eric coaches you to?  Will you have ATF's attorneys try to get you out of the subpoena so you can avoid this all together?

 

Careful now.  If the rumors are true and that you've done nothing and said nothing to protect a potential Attorney General nomination, what you do and don't say could be critical.   Think about how the hide-and-duck strategy DOJ put Andy Traver under worked out for him.

 

Again, What did you know, When did you know it, What did you do about it.

 

I can only hope that Jason Chaffetz or Trey Gowdy gets to question you.  Your agency is watching.  Own up and protect it, or double talk to protect yourself.

 

All you have to do is speak to a couple of the very best uc operators in history.  They are right there under your nose.  They can ammo you up with an overwhelming amount of success stories and incredible achievements.  Trust them if you hope to survive this.

ATF HQ operates in a vacuum. Word is that Mr. Jones blew a gasket when he received a subpoena.We (the field) have offered countless times to help redirect our Bureau and help resolve the countless employee disputes. He has been here long enough to effect change but hasn't.  His leadership style of "shut the hell up or else", has proven ineffective. Shutting down effective programs because his managers cannot be trusted and are unskilled and inexperienced is not the answer.Placing more and more restrictions on Agents does NOT make our communities safer. Raising the bar and holding managers accountable WILL ensure proper procedure and sound practices. Remember Mr. Jones, we did this and did it VERY well for almost 40 years before you got here. You HAVE to ask yourself whats different now? Fast track promotions of yes men, failure of any fear of consequences by protecting the Newells, Gillettes, Mc Mahons, Zapors, Torres x2 and running off your senior most experienced Agents have all contributed to your short term failure as a Director. DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS is running our Bureau into the ground. Sir, WHY DIDNT YOU PULL THE PIN ON THE DOBYNS LAWSUIT AND SHOW YOU WERE A MAN WHO WOULD NOT ALLOW SUCH CONDUCT IN YOUR BUREAU?

Say it ain't so. PLEASE say that HQ and IA has not knowingly and tacitly ignored OUTRAGEOUS conduct and sweeping intergrity violations by the ENTIRE field management staff in a major field division.

Are Mr. Turk, Brandon and Jones being misled AGAIN by the AD of Internal Affairs and the affected SAC? Are they just asleep at the wheel, OR are they involved in the active cover-up and protectionist behavior they are denying to Congress?
Details to follow once Government oversight has been completely apprised.

It is sad to hear people, (ATF AGENT) Resenting that our Agency may truly be on its last leg. I pray that the collective wisdom of our leadership trumps the growing opinions of the field, Congress and the American public. Keep fighting. Too much has been sacrificed by to many to create one of the most effective and storied Law Enforcement agencies in the history of American Law Enforcement. Do not let Bureaucratic paralysis of our leadership destroy what OUR blood, sweat and tears have created.

THIS is what happens when you refuse and disrespect the United States Congress. Mr. Jones et al have obviously ignored Congress ONE too many times. A little less time fighting Agents and a little more time cleaning up their messes and who knows what could happen to this outfit. Congress is not going to stop pounding on ATF until they get some sincere cooperation.

 

http://oversight.hou...un-Database.pdf

Not surprising. They parade Sen. Durbin through the intel group after cleaning it up, buying a cpl new computers and monitors and make big noise about all the cool data bases we are using, (most of which we have been using for 15 yrs or so) and hold a half dozen press conferences. This and the PUBLICIZED assigning of 7 agents to Chicago FD to beef up our violent crime efforts and in the process disclose our manpower assets in the field division. THAT MY FRIENDS IS LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE INFORMATION. I am reasonably certain the assignment of 7 NEW HIRES will have minimal impact for at least 3 yrs. as that is the official training period. ALWAYS SMOKE AND MIRRORS. ALL SHOW AND NO GO.

http://m.jsonline.com/259595911.htm


And yet another letter challenging exactly what we have all been asking about musical SACs and DADs. Except this time they are asking Mr. JONES DIRECTLY why he misled Congress.

Can anyone shed light on why the Baltimore SAC and ASAC were so hastily removed? And why acting SAC and ASAC were put in place? The rumor mill is frought with peril. Sounds extremely serious.

On February 10, 2014, at 1:30 pm, at the United States Courthouse in Tucson, Arizona a defendant in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry will be sentenced. 

 

It is anticipated that Kelly Terry, Brian's sister, will deliver a victim's statement to the court.

 

A trigger puller armed by ATF will receive his punishment.  Those in ATF, DOJ and beyond have yet to be held accountable beyond transfers or accommodated retirements.

 

"Justice" is only partially served by the Department of Justice.

 

Attached is a "2013 Year in Review" photograph assembled by a Border Patrolman for the Terry family.  Never forget what Brian Terry sacrificed and continues to stand for even in death.

I BET HE IS. SHAMEFUL

 

http://www.breitbart...rious-documents

 

The quotes were taken directly from the Judge's ruling on a Motion to Suppress the Evidence - which has been published on Leagle.com.

WHO ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? Whats your question?

WHERE WAS THIS TAKEN FROM? Context?

Initial thoughts.............if he/she is a boss, they'll be promoted.

"outstanding"?  "ethical"?   Really?  In a recent ruling by Federal Judge, James A. Parker:

 

"SA Ortiz's testimony ....... was inconsistent."

 

".....given SA Ortiz's extensive experience as an ATF agent in the criminal enforcement division, the Court cannot help but find that the misrepresentation was reckless."

 

"SA Ortiz had an obligation to refrain from making reckless, inaccurate statements....."

 

"......the Court finds......that this statement was reckless."

 

"After carefully reviewing the record, the Court concludes that SA Ortiz acted recklessly...."

 

"......the Court cannot help but find that the misrepresentation was reckless."

 

"The ATF agents involved in this case have repeatedly overlooked details that affect the accuracy of their statements."

 

"SA Ortiz's insouciant attitude is troubling to the Court. It demonstrates a disregard for his duty to accurately present the facts to the magistrate judge."

WHERE WAS THIS TAKEN FROM? Context?

HERE WE GO AGAIN. Another office mired in controversy, and the SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE AND ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENTS IN CHARGE, are attempting to spin and conceal HUGE issues from HQ and have minimized the violations to internal affairs DAD King OBVIOUSLY WITH AD GLEYSTEENS APPROVAL. The violations are blatant, unethical and WILL result in significant investigation and disciplinary actions. As usual, the attempt by Field Division senior managers to conceal and cover-up the allegations will result in disaster. The affected SAC has a proven record of failure(documented), but Mr. Jones apparently thought it a good idea to promote him anyway.

 

The field division in question is conducting their own internal investigation trying to tamp down the NOW documented abuses and allegations INCLUDING INTEGRITY VIOLATIONS from HQ oversight. It would appear IA is complicit designating the violations as management issues........THEY ARE NOT. Secret meetings with employees, interviewing entire offices conducted by an ASAC and a (Yes man RAC),   DETAILS TO FOLLOW.

 

CAN ANYONE PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW SUCH ACTIONS ADVANCE OUR MISSION READINESS?

Posted Today, 11:09 AM

How disturbing is this? How disturbing is it that ATF leadership denies there is a problem? Mr. Jones, Brandon and Turk are thumbing their noses at the dedicated employees of ATF as evidenced by their refusal to reign in out of control Chief counsels office as evidenced by Mr. Brandon completely ignoring the FAAP recommendations. Does this in fact VALIDATE those Congressional members who resisted Mr. Jones confirmation based upon allegations of reprisals and abuse? YOU BE THE JUDGE. Mr. Jones has been in charge either acting or confirmed for over 2 years. compare the 2010 stats and the steady increase. Sadly, these numbers were taken directly from the Official U.S. DOJ website TODAY..........................

 

Total number of employees        FBI 35,000+      

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012     312    Less than 1%

 

 

Total number of employees       DEA  10,000+

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      53      Less than 1%

 

 

 

 

Total number of employees       ATF    4770

Total number of pending EEOC complaints reported end of yr 2012      1362  More than 25%

SERIOUSLY?????????

Where there is smoke there is fire America.

 

http://www.justice.g...eeos/nofear.htm

The shame of this is that our Executive Staff has created all of this.Little or no training programs for new Agents. No senior Agents to train new Agents. Over 25% of our gun and badge toting Agents are GS-14, 15 or SES specialized employees, (NOT making cases or advancing our core mission). Supervisors with less than 10 years experience. Whats the point you ask? Senior managers who have failed or proved incompetent to hold leadership positions are NOT demoted or re-assigned, they are merely moved and hidden.Every manager who just goes along with the status quo KNOWS that there will be NO REAL consequences. If the reports by the media are true, and we know THEY AREN'T ALWAYS ACCURATE, The FIRST question that has to be asked is were the RAC, ASAC, SAC or DAD removed or demoted? Was the SAC/DAD of the Milwaukee case demoted (LOSS OF PAY OR BENEFITS), OR was he transferred as a SAC to the VERY Office he had been begging to go to for the last 10 years?  Mr. Jones and Mr. Brandon created the FAAP, (Field Agency Advisory Panel), then completely disregarded their recommendations. The agency has run off nearly ALL of its senior and most experienced agents, with NO mechanism in place to train new field Agents. In one field division, the ASAC was heard to say," well we just don't have enough training Agents, so we'll have to just live with it". Well NOW we are living with it Mr. Vind. Former SAC/DAD Steve Martin was asked, "Once you've run off or fired every senior Agent who questions your judgement, then what"? RESPONSE.......There's a 1000 guys waiting to fill those jobs. Question posed to SAC Martin, how are you going to run a major field division with new hires? Answer.............SILENCE. Headquarters continues to advance the divisions between the Guys and Gals actually doing the work and the bosses overseeing them. This may suggest WHY they have not released the most recent survey results conducted by OPM. We have said it before, but it is worth mentioning again. Headquarters collective field experience amounts to thousands of years of outdated experience. The fields collective experience amounts to TENS of thousands of years of real time experience.. This aint rocket science ladies and gentlemen.

I am a CJA (federally appointed)  investigator. I investigated a case that involved a storefront operations that ATF ran. After I finished the case, I came across evidence that the lead ATF investigator stole funds from the storefront operation. I have made a report to ATF IA and it has been almost one year now and this guy is still working. Is this common? He has multiple working IA cases against him.

CJA? Educate us please. If internal affairs is not acting timely, you should notify DOJ/IG. A year is more than enough time to either CLEAR the Agent, or forward the allegations to ATFs PRB. There are several possibilities as to why this Agent is still on the job. First, he could have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Second, he/she is a boss or favored by bosses at HQ which suggests they tamped down the allegations. They could also be wanting to sweep it under the carpet since we have been getting so much bad press for the way our leadership conducts its internal reviews. If this is significant and symptomatic of the corruption lingering in our upper echelon, might I suggest that the media be engaged. OUR leadership thrives in the darkness and ONLY responds when light is shed on their misdeeds.

If you have evidence re theft of Gov. Funds, you did what you are supposed to. You reported it to Internal Affairs. That being said, it sounds like your boy (s) got convicted. Doesn't pass the smell test. But be clear, if you have evidence it'll be handled. BUT one has nothing to do with the other. If it did, the public defender would have used it. We dont abide thieves at ATF. But forgive us if we dont believe OR trust public defenders either.